Western Conference

[sabi]

lol at the op for having OKC at third and Portland way below that. You know we beat them this past season despite all the injuries, right? Get a clue...

As for the topic of this thread the Kings should see a significant improvement with all the nice additions they've made. And Tyreke should show more in his second year that he is able to carry a winning team through the season. Well see how it plays out but its gonna be an interesting year. I like the Kings team, to be honest.

[Wolfay]

lol at the op for having OKC at third and Portland way below that. You know we beat them this past season despite all the injuries, right? Get a clue...

As for the topic of this thread the Kings should see a significant improvement with all the nice additions they've made. And Tyreke should show more in his second year that he is able to carry a winning team through the season. Well see how it plays out but its gonna be an interesting year. I like the Kings team, to be honest.

If anything, you two (OKC and Portland) are about even. The West is so stacked that there really isn't that much difference from the top spot and 8th. It's so close that it's hard to rank the teams.

Anyway, thanks for the kind words about the Kings. We hope to be joining you and OKC soon as one of the new top teams of the West.

[RIPskaterdude]

If, and it's a big IF, Portland can stay healthy, then I could see them being the 3rd best team in the West next year....I still think they could have beat the Lakers if they matched up with them in the 1st or 2nd round (especially if Roy was healthy).

[Wolfay]

It could go one of two ways. We are way better because our interior defense is now close to an elite level in terms of shotblocking and rebounding. We have 3 legit interior scorers in Evans, Landry, and Cousins and our toughness level is much higher.

Or....The paint is too clogged allowing teams to zone us to death and causing us to fall rapidly on the offensive end even though we are much better defensively. No matter how great you are on defense, you still have to be able to knock down shots. If this is the case I see us winning only a few more games but still being better than last year.

My personal belief is that this team is significantly better next year. Playoffs? I don't know, but at least in the mix for a good chunk of the season. Might be a rough start howver.

This is a good analysis. The zone worries me too, but Cousins can hit jumpers and hopefully Evans has made some strides in his jumper. Hopefully a zone won't prove to be too much of a problem. A guard that can shoot would definitely help, as others have said in several threads.

[longfellow44]

^^^we may be more ok in that area than we think. Garcia was A non factor last year due to injury but he is a fantastic shooter from deep and will do wonders for busting a zone. He's a high 30's shooter percentage wise and shoots enough from deep to average almost 2 3pters a game atleast before last last season. I still want to add another point guard who can do that as well but for the most part I see us in pretty good shape.

[Passive Sloth]

The ONLY locks for the playoffs next year IMO are the Lakers, and maybe OKC. What if Dallas loses Dirk? If not then I add them as the 3rd team as a lock to MAKE the playoffs. But really, any of those other 4 teams are just as questionable. There's still a lot of free agency left to shift the balance of power to and away from teams, as well as a lot of trading that will go down before the end of October.

I don't think it's a stretch of the imagination to believe that the Kings can make the playoffs next season. Is it a lock? No way, but they have the personnel, where it just might happen.

After this draft, I kinda wish the Kings had held onto Martin.

[king125]

lol at the op for having OKC at third and Portland way below that. You know we beat them this past season despite all the injuries, right? Get a clue...

As for the topic of this thread the Kings should see a significant improvement with all the nice additions they've made. And Tyreke should show more in his second year that he is able to carry a winning team through the season. Well see how it plays out but its gonna be an interesting year. I like the Kings team, to be honest.

get a clue? how much better are the blazers gonna get? both okc and portland tied last year in the regular season and the thunder have way more upside. sorry to tell you but durant and westbrook are better then roy and aldridge and the filler pieces on okc are better. OKC will beat Portlands record in the regular season. book it!

[sabi]

lol at the op for having OKC at third and Portland way below that. You know we beat them this past season despite all the injuries, right? Get a clue...

As for the topic of this thread the Kings should see a significant improvement with all the nice additions they've made. And Tyreke should show more in his second year that he is able to carry a winning team through the season. Well see how it plays out but its gonna be an interesting year. I like the Kings team, to be honest.

get a clue? how much better are the blazers gonna get? both okc and portland tied last year in the regular season and the thunder have way more upside. sorry to tell you but durant and westbrook are better then roy and aldridge and the filler pieces on okc are better. OKC will beat Portlands record in the regular season. book it!

lol we beat them last year w/o oden, an injured roy, batum, fernandez, Pryz and playing juwan howard at center for most of the year. if we have better luck with injuries next year we have a lot of room to improve. We won 54 games the season before as well.

[SacKingsPejaFan]

We're not making the playoffs next year. Anything over 32 wins will be a success in my eyes.

In 2011-2012, on the other hand, I FULLY expect the Kings to make the playoffs. Durant made it his 3rd year and so should Tyreke. Also Cousins will be pretty beastly after a year of experience. Let's not worry about making 8th this year. I just want to see everyone improve individually and for the team to improve as a unit, setting us up for a 2011-2012 playoff appearance. By 2013-2014 I want us competing for a ring though.

[RIPskaterdude]

Personally, anything under 30 wins will be a failure. 18 + 25 + ??

33-36 wins should be our goal, anything more will be a success.

[Passive Sloth]

Personally, anything under 30 wins will be a failure. 18 + 25 + ??

33-36 wins should be our goal, anything more will be a success.

Exactly how I feel. I don't "EXPECT" us to make the playoffs, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me either. This roster just got a lot bigger and a lot more talented. Had we kept the status quo I would have projected 27-32 wins next year. Now with the current changes and the anticipated moves(i.e. adding a PG and a wing to the roster) I would expect 35+ wins. We might JUST miss the playoffs, but I would expect to be in the playoff hunt for a good portion of the season. I think my expectations are at 35 wins. The basement I see is 30 and the ceiling is 45. But I think 35 is realistic and likely.

[RIPskaterdude]

Even if we hit .500, we won't "JUST miss" the playoffs. We'll need 45-47 wins to even get close to the 8th seed.

[villatrynity154]

^^^yeah only teams that make the playoffs with a 30+ win record are in the eastern conference...not everyone in the west is gonna win 50+ games like last season, but nobody w/ 35 wins is gonna make the playoffs either....just not gonna happen in the west.

[longfellow44]

^^^lets wait until free agency hits before we make that declration. The jazz, and the suns could fall off dramatically and teams could get much better in the east if we see a free agent migration.

[villatrynity154]

yeah but my point is even if the suns and the jazz both lose amare and boozer they are still a 43-44 win team regardless....the way i see it, you add to them a san antonio team that won't get to 50 either but will win around 45....those 3 teams will be the ones competing 4 the last two spots in the playoffs...either way 35 wins won't cut it. even if the east gets better only only chicago and miami will threaten to win 50 next season if they acquire the right FA's, apart from the already good teams in the east, and ATL is gonna fall off trust me. milwaukee will improve, but they'll win around 45 as well. either way i don't think 35 wins will cut it in either conference this upcomming season. so lets just focus on improvement and put the postseason hopes on hold for a while...no sense in getting dissapointed on purpose

[RIPskaterdude]

Even if the Suns and Jazz get worse, you have an improved Rockets (if Yao comes back) and Memphis team (if they re-sign Gay), both of which who could make a run for the 8th spot.